MPs given access to NHS comments and complaints

A new services is giving MPs easy access to patients’ comments and complaints about the NHS in their constituency.

The Patient Opinion website, where patients leave comments about their care, today announced changes to allow MPs to collect and read what is written about services relevant to them.

MPs will also be able to leave responses to comments - previously reserved for the provider organisation.

Patient Opinion, a not for profit social enterprise, said it was part of “a new era in assessing and dealing with taxpayer opinion”.

Founder and chief executive Paul Hodgkin, a GP, said: “For the first time, MPs will have a feedback service tailored to their constituents and their hospitals and clinics.

“They will be able to see quickly and easily what is working well and what isn’t, and whether their local health services are responding to a satisfactory level.

“For constituents, this goes beyond the massive leap forward we made in enabling rapid online communication with the NHS – this means that opinions and issues can now be monitored and engaged with at parliamentary level.

“This is the Big Society in action – every comment can make a difference, and MPs can become more effective in representing their communities.”

Andy Williamson, digital democracy director at the Hansard Society, which supported the changes, said: “Patient Opinion is a great example of sharing information and creating conversations between the state and citizens.

“It can really help MPs keep a finger on the pulse of local healthcare needs in their constituency.”